I spent the last two days interviewing Christian music artists from all over the word during GMA week. It is probably my favorite part of my job.I had some good interviews, some great interviews and some not so great interviews. I got to interview Jars of Clay, who has been a favorite of mine for a long time. I found out that i was interviewing Reuben Morgan, worship leader of Hillsong Australia 2 minutes before i walked into the interview with absolutely NO questions prepped...thanks to a mistake by their publicist. Turned out well, but not my greatest interview by any means. But hands down, without a doubt, my favorite interview was 5 guys from Northern Ireland that form the band Blue Tree. Never heard of them? Well, chances are if you have been to pretty much any evangelical church in the last year, you have heard their song, God of This City. Thought that was a Chris Tomlin song, or Passion? They covered it. Blue Tree wrote it.
So, why was this my favorite interview this year? Why did 5 crazy funny witty Irishmen who spoke with a heavy Irish brogues bring me to tears in the middle of my interview with their story that i knew about, that i asked them about? Because when they focused in and talked to me about a city in Thailand, the presence of the Lord came down and broke my heart.
The band went to Thailand on a missions trip. They headed out to a city that was known for prostitution, child sex trading and everything perverse. Thousands of prostitutes lined the streets and western men would come looking for any sexual perversion imaginable. The band decided that they wanted to play more in the city. Amazingly, they were able to play in a bar called The Climax that was right in the middle of a street filled with brothels if they brought 30 of their friends and those friends all bought a coke, which cost more than alcohol. They were given a 2 hour spot and they played and worship the Lord in a city that was populated only by the sex trade. While they were praying they felt an open heaven and began to pray for everyone in that city, including those who came for the sex. The lead singer began to sing over the city. Greater things are still to come to for that city...that city. The city designed for the sex trade. God is still the God of that city.
My little story does not do any justice to what i heard, but it is a bit of a sampling. They now are advocates for child trafficking and have their own non-profit organization. Amazing.
Check them out in the post below.
2 comments:
I just heard there album yesterday for the first time, and I thought the same thing about the God of the city song, that they were covering. We did a whole sermon series at Radiant with that title and used that song as a theme song. Our worship pastor told us the story about the Thailand trip. pretty amazing. Overall I thought the album had it's high points... I wondered how they were able to make "God of this city" the title of the album. It makes sense now!
Alicia...that's so cool! You have an amazing job! You're a hot producer who gets to meet sweet artists who desire to make a change in this world! can't wait to hear more about your work/vacation in the Nash!
Post a Comment